DHAKA: Jeremy Corbyn has been re-elected as Labour leader, comfortably defeating his challenger Owen Smith.

He won 61.8% of the vote, a larger margin of victory than last year, reports the BBC.

He vowed to bring Labour back together, saying “we have much more in common than divides us”, insisting the party could win the next election as the “engine of progress” in the country.

More than half a million party members, trade unionists and registered supporters voted in the contest.

In a result announced on the eve of Labour’s party conference in Liverpool, Corbyn won 313,209 votes, compared with Smith’s 193,229.

The BBC’s assistant political editor Norman Smith said it was a big win for Corbyn which boosted his mandate. The result raised “serious questions” for Corbyn’s critics, he added.

One critic of Corbyn said the leadership question was now “settled” but others said the Labour leader needed to heed calls for change.

Corbyn said he was “honored” to have been elected in a contest that followed months of tension with many Labour MPs and urged people to “respect the democratic choice that has been made”.

Addressing supporters, Corbyn said he and his opponents were part of the “same Labour family” and everyone needed to focus their energy “on exposing and defeating the Tories”.

“We have much more in common than divides us,” he said. “Let us wipe that slate clean from today and get on with the work that we have to do as a party,” he said.

BDST: 1758 HRS, SEP 24, 2016
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